Despite growing evidence for demonstrated efficacy of mindfulness in various disorders, there is a continuous concern about the relationship between mindfulness practice and psychosis. As schizotypy is part of the psychosis spectrum, we examined the relationship between long-term mindfulness practice and schizotypy in two independent studies. Study 1 included 24 experienced mindfulness practitioners (19 males) from the Buddhist tradition (meditators) and 24 meditation-naïve individuals (all males). Study 2 consisted of 28 meditators and 28 meditation-naïve individuals (all males)...

Research into human development involves the use of human embryos and their derivative cells and tissues. How religions view the human embryo depends on beliefs about ensoulment and the inception of personhood, and science can neither prove nor refute the teaching of those religions that consider the zygote to be a human person with an immortal soul. This Spotlight article discusses some of the dominant themes that have emerged with regard to how different religions view the human embryo, with a focus on the Christian faith as well as Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Islamic perspectives...

Amidst the burgeoning enthusiasm for mindfulness in the West, there is a concern that the largely secular 'de-contextualized' way in which it is being harnessed is denuding it of its potential to improve health and well-being. As such, efforts are underway to 're-contextualize' mindfulness, explicitly drawing on the wider framework of Buddhist ideas and practices in which it was initially developed. This paper aims to contribute to this, doing so by focusing on Zen Buddhism, and in particular on Zen aesthetic principles...

Numerous studies have shown that depression-prone people are characterized by a chronic style of attributing failures to internal, stable, and global causes, sometimes labeled as the "depressive attributional style." Much less is known, however, about how social-cultural factors such as religious beliefs might modulate these processes. In the current study, we hypothesized that Buddhism's view of ultimate internal controllability plays a buffering role against the depressive attributional style and reduces its negative impacts...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Religious belief is an important aspect that influences the life of a patient, especially in Asia. We aim to compare the quality of death in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) between Buddhists and Muslims from the perspectives of the relatives of the patients and the nurses and physicians. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This was a cohort study of critically ill patients who died after admission to a medical ICU in Songklanagarind Hospital in Thailand between 2015 and 2016...

Context • Buddhist texts direct practitioners to generate a feeling of love to stop the affliction of anger. Modern self-help practices and clinical psychology have demonstrated that generating emotions of love can reduce anger. More studies are needed, however, to identify the active components of interventions and their applicability in clinical populations. Objective • The study investigated the hypothesis that enhancing self-love through frequent listening to recorded self-loving messages can reduce anger...

This is a review of a collection of six essays. These essays, with the exception of one, are written by the followers of Shin Buddhism (Pure Land Buddhism). The last essay in this collection is written from the perspective of Theravada Buddhism rather than Mahayana Buddhism. This collection is a result of the initiative by Rev. Yoshiharu Tomatsu who, as a Buddhist priest, has acquired hands-on experience in dealing with grieving Temple members and became acutely aware of the discrepancy between a medical system and a ritualistic Buddhist system...

Buddhist-derived meditation practices are currently being employed as a popular form of health promotion. While meditation programs draw inspiration from Buddhist textual sources for the benefits of meditation, these sources also acknowledge a wide range of other effects beyond health-related outcomes. The Varieties of Contemplative Experience study investigates meditation-related experiences that are typically underreported, particularly experiences that are described as challenging, difficult, distressing, functionally impairing, and/or requiring additional support...

INTRODUCTION: Mindfulness-based therapies are rooted in the Buddhist tradition, and promote cultivation of qualities such as open awareness, acceptance and compassion. While various studies have demonstrated the efficacy of integrating mindfulness in therapeutic practice for people suffering from clinical conditions such as depression and anxiety as well as the non-clinical population, this was rarely replicated in Israel. In the Mindfulness Clinic, located in the Mental Health Center, Beer Sheva, mindfulness workshops are now available for diverse populations dealing with various challenges such as daily stress, chronic pain, and depression...

Nearly nothing is known of medicine in ancient Korea due to insufficient materials. With several extant prescriptions and esoteric methods of treating diseases alone, it is impossible to gauge in depth the management of medicine during this period. If one exception were to be cited, that would be the fact that the annotations for understanding the contents on Indian medicine in the "Chapter on Eliminating Disease" in the Sutra of Golden Light, a Buddhist sutra originating from India, reflected the medical knowledge of Buddhist monks from Silla (57 BC-935 AD) who were active immediately after the nation's unification of the two other kingdoms on the Korean Peninsula (668 AD) such as Wonhyo (617-686 AD), Gyeongheung (620?-700? AD), and Seungjang (684-? AD)...

This article addresses an apparent paradox found in Pali Buddhist literature: while the "uncompounded" (asaṅkhata) is valued over and above what is "compounded" (saṅkhata), the texts also encourage careful attention to relative (or, physical) health. The mind is the laboratory and the object of a thorough work meant to lead to final liberation from mental affliction and from the cycle of existence, whereas the body is perceived as impure, limited, and intrinsically unsatisfactory. Nonetheless, a disciple of the Buddha is supposed to take care of his/her own and others' physical wellbeing, and monastic equipment includes a set of medicines...

Dealing with physical pain represents a huge public health expenditure, especially for cancer-induced bone pain, one of the most difficult health issues, which impairs appetite, sleep, and mobility, negatively impacting quality of life and evoking mental problems. Although some literature has reported positive correlation between religion and pain management, there is a dearth of research examining the effectiveness of Buddhism on this topic. This study investigates the usefulness of Buddhist beliefs in managing cancer-induced bone pain through a case example...

BACKGROUND: Following its recent certification as malaria-free, imported infections now pose the greatest threat for maintaining this status in Sri Lanka. Imported infections may also introduce species that are uncommon or not previously endemic to these areas. We highlight in this case report the increasing importance of less common malaria species such as Plasmodium ovale in elimination settings and discuss its relevance for the risk of malaria resurgence in the country. CASE PRESENTATION: A 41-year-old patient from southern Sri Lanka was diagnosed with malaria after 8 days of fever...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Postoperative adhesions occur less often in laparoscopies than in laparotomies, but the incidence can be reduced further. Seprafilm, a sodium hyaluronate/carboxymethylcellulose absorbable barrier, was developed to prevent adhesions after abdominal surgery, and is approved for postoperative adhesion prevention. However, Seprafilm is seldom used in laparoscopic surgery because of its tendency to break apart when it is inserted into the abdominal cavity through a trocar, resulting in a high placement failure rate...

BACKGROUND: Though most models of palliative care specifically include spiritual care as an essential element, secular health care organizations struggle with supporting spiritual care for people who are dying and their families. Organizations often leave responsibility for such care with individual care providers, some of whom are comfortable with this role and well supported, others who are not. This study looked to hospice programs founded and operated on specific spiritual foundations to identify, if possible, organizational-level practices that support high-quality spiritual care that then might be applied in secular healthcare organizations...

Objectives: The religious landscape of older adults around the world is changing profoundly. Yet until now, no study has chronicled these changes or compared expected aging patterns of religious groups. Differential aging among religious groups can have important economic and social consequences. This study estimates and projects the future religious composition by age at the global and regional levels. Method: This study presents estimates of age structures by religion for 2010 and projections until 2050...

Sixty novice Buddhist monks with tinea capitis confirmed according to clinical presentation and mycological laboratory finding were included in this study. Mixed-type clinical presentation was observed in approximately half of all cases, together with scarring alopecia (95%) and superficial fungal skin infection at locations other than the scalp (43.3%). The major isolated organism was Trichophyton violaceum, and mixed-organism infection was found in 27 cases (45%). Slow-onset presentation and an extensive area of infection were significantly associated with mixed-type clinical presentation...

The sources of embryos for Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR) include surplus embryos from infertility treatments, and research embryos which are created solely for an ESCR purpose. The latter raises more ethical concerns. In a multi-religious country like Malaysia, ethical discussions on the permissibility of ESCR with regard to the use surplus and research embryos are diversified. Malaysia has formulated guidelines influenced by the national fatwa ruling which allows the use of surplus embryos in ESCR. Input from other main religions is yet to be documented...

Practising mindfulness cannot stop challenging things happening in your life, but it can help you to control your response. Buddhists use an analogy of two arrows to explain this: the first arrow is the actual event which, though difficult or painful, is often outside your control. For example, starting your shift and finding out you are short-staffed yet again. The second arrow is your reaction, which might be to get angry, stressed or grumpy.